The novel approach of the Alpha course is changing many lives, writes Paddy Monaghan

One day Helen noticed an advertisement for Alpha in a shop window in South Dublin; she attended the 10-week course; it had a profound impact on her life and she now runs Alpha courses in Dublin.

She says: ''Alpha was very special for me. I liked the friendly atmosphere and I was really challenged by the talks. On the Holy Spirit Away Day, I came into a personal relationship with Jesus and I found a God who was so close, so real, someone I could relate to. I left the venue filled with His love, peace, and joy. That day changed the direction of my life.''

Jesus said: ''I have come that you may have life and life in abundance.'' Helen is one of many in Ireland who has experienced this abundant life through attending an Alpha course. Alpha is a 10-week primary evangelisation course. It was designed for those who do not attend church, but churchgoers can greatly benefit as well. Alpha is for everyone, from those with theological degrees to those who have no knowledge of God.

Around the world Alpha continues to grow with some two million people attending courses in 2009. Alpha is running in 169 countries and the DVD containing the talks has just been translated into Arabic and is currently being used in Egypt and Lebanon. In Ireland the number of Alpha courses has grown from 12 in 2004 to around 120 last year. There have been breakthroughs in Ireland in three key areas:

• Adult Alpha in the Archdiocese of Dublin;
• Youth Alpha aimed in Secondary/Community Schools;
• The Marriage Course.

Adult Alpha

Dublin is the only one of the 26 dioceses in Ireland that has set up an Office of Evangelisation and this office has produced a special edition of the Gospel of Luke with beautiful photographs from Dublin churches and museums. Along with the Church of Ireland, it has now distributed 250,000 copies of this Gospel. The archdiocese then developed an interactive DVD based on Luke for children, in cooperation with Scripture Union and the Bible Society.

To further Alpha in Catholic parishes, the Office for Evangelisation asked Alpha Ireland if it could link its course into Luke's Gospel, which they felt would help Catholic parishes to consider running Alpha. We have now produced a booklet introducing the 15 Alpha talks with scriptures from Luke. (For a free copy, please email alphairel@eircom.net)

The Vicar of Evangelisation, Fr Ciaran O'Carroll, and a colleague, went to Alpha's International Conference in London last year. Over 1,500 delegates from 100 countries were there including 200 Catholic Christian, of whom 45 were priests and 23 were bishops and archbishops. Last autumn this led to the Office of Evangelisation hosting 6 Alpha courses for Parish Council members in Dublin and those involved in ministry.

These Alpha courses were held in Shankill, Tallaght, Whitehall, Clonliffe, Blanchardstown and City Quay. A total of 238 people came on the first night and most completed the course. The feedback was superb. One priest participant said:

''I enjoyed the talks. They were light, refreshing and helped me in my ministry. It reminded me to pray with the Scriptures. The Alpha course can revive faith in Ireland; we need to help people form and build a relationship with Jesus Christ. I plan to now run Alpha in my parish and school.''

Questionnaires, filled out at the end of the six courses, showed some interesting results:

When asked what they most enjoyed, 50 per cent said they most enjoyed the talks, 31pc opted for the small sharing groups and some others said they most enjoyed the special day in Clonliffe focusing on the Holy Spirit. When asked what they found most difficult 20pc said the small sharing groups, 12pc said that they found the 90 minutes too short (a good complaint) and 11pc found the 10 week course too long. Other comments were:

• 95pc said they were going to Mass regularly before Alpha;
• 66pc said doing the Alpha course improved their participation at Mass;
• 79pc said they read the Bible more as a result of attending the course;
• 53pc said they would help in running a future course;
• 63pc said they would like to participate in some follow on course to Alpha in the parish;
• 27pc said there was help available in their parish for a follow up course to Alpha.

A follow-on seminar for these participants was held in Clonliffe College, Dublin last January on understanding the Eucharist (copy available by emailing alphairel@eircom.net). The major challenge for Alpha in a Catholic context is a parish based follow-on. Once guests have completed the course, it is important that they have the opportunity to continue to grow in their faith in their parish through meeting together in small groups that retain the key ingredients of Alpha: worship, teaching, Bible study, discussion, prayer, friendship and food,

I had the privilege of running an Alpha course in the autumn along with three colleagues for 12 drug addicts (all 25 to 40 age); seven finished the 10-week course and it had a profound effect on them, as was demonstrated on the last night when we presented New Testament and Psalms to them.

Youth Alpha

Youth Alpha has been run successfully in a number of secondary schools in Dublin for Transition Year students. Catholic Youth Care, YWAM, Scripture Union, Youth for Christ, the Church of Ireland Dublin Youth ministry and Alpha Ireland have designed a Youth Alpha resource for schools. Together they hosted a conference in the Redemptorist Retreat Centre in Dublin last March for RE teachers. There was good feedback from the 40 who attended and 10 new schools indicated they would like to run Youth Alpha in Transition year.

Alpha Marriage Course

Alpha Ireland worked alongside Catholic Agency Accord, Focus on the Family, Retrouvaille and three other ministries in hosting a National Marriage Week in February last. President McAleese was our guest speaker and event was well attended. Please check www.marriageweekireland.ie to see President McAleese's excellent address. It has been encouraging to see the growth in the Alpha Marriage Courses in the country with courses in Waterford, Cork, Arklow, Galway, Cork, Dublin North and South and Drogheda.

Hope

Our Church in Ireland is going through a dark place; it is being humbled and purified. Renewal and reformation are vital. Our spiritual destiny as a nation is, I believe, to be a light to the nations, as in the time of Patrick. I believe that the Alpha course has a key role to play in this.

2We are planning an Alpha Advertising Campaign in Dublin in January 2011, aimed at the 20-40 age group. Our aim is to encourage 60 parishes/churches to run Alpha next February; this will involve inviting them to contribute €1,000 each to be spent on advertising Alpha through cinemas, billboards etc. We would appeal to parishes in Dublin who have a heart to reach young adults not to miss this opportunity to reach out to them with the love of God through Alpha. In the following year we hope to roll this campaign out to the rest of Ireland.